Muhlner Motorsport Nurburgring news

Success for Muhlner Motorsport at the Nurburgring
Top performances from Jochen Krumbach and Tom Cloet
After the one-two result in Group H of the German Long-distance
Championship the Spa-Francorchamps based Muhlner Motorsport Team...

Success for Muhlner Motorsport at the Nurburgring
Top performances from Jochen Krumbach and Tom Cloet

After the one-two result in Group H of the German Long-distance
Championship the Spa-Francorchamps based Muhlner Motorsport Team took
on a new challenge by running one of their Porsche in the specials
category of the championship at the latest round, the 30.
DMV-250-Meilen-Rennen. After the final round of the Porsche Supercup at
Monza in early September, the team rebuilt both their two Porsche 997 to
endurance specification specifically for the Nurburgring.

Jochen Krumbach (Eschweiler) and Tom Cloet (Belgium) were driving the
Basler Securitas Insurance backed Porsche; for both drivers it was the
first time driving with the Muhlner Team. Krumbach, a recognised
Nordschleife expert, was making his first start in a Porsche and Tom
Cloet, who has a lot of GT car experience, was relatively new to the
Nordschleife, having previously driven only one race there. Furthermore,
the car was carrying 100kg ballast to bring it up to the official minimum
weight for the SP7 class.

All in all not the ideal basis for a successful result. "Our start
in SP7 will help us in our decision as to what class to run in next
season. We are also looking to work with Jochen and Tom in 2007 so in
that regard we see this as further preparation for next season"
explained team boss Bernhard Muhlner.

But expectations were raised as early as Krumbach's first flying lap in
qualifying which showed up as 2nd on the timing monitors. Cloet also
posted solid lap times. Towards the end of the session, as the track was
getting quicker, the team sent Krumbach out on fresh tyres. He promptly
delivered, firing in a super time of 8:50.3m

Krumbach drove the first stint and ran 3rd in class, 6th overall by the
time of the first fuel stop. Running the standard Supercup Porsche fuel
tank meant that the Muhlner Team stopped a lot earlier than their
competitors and dropped to 14th place. Cloet drove consistent quick laps
on his stint and brought the car back up to 3rd in class and 7th overall.
He handed over to Krumbach for a final stint, who saw the chequered flag
of the 4 hour race as 2nd in class and 5th overall.

"The Nurburgring Nordschleife is fantastic circuit and I was able
to get to grips with it in my first race in the Muhlner Motorsport
Porsche. It was a lot of fun and we got a great result" reported a
very happy Tom Cloet after the race.

Jochen Krumbach was also very happy " the Muhlner Porsche has super
suspension, it is really well set-up for the particular demands of the
Nurburgring Nordschleife. I felt immediately at home in the car and was
able to go for it straight away. It all went perfectly."

"To get a second in SP7, the class from which the overall race
winner almost always comes, is fantastic. Our class competitors have up
to 100ps more than us under the bonnet plus big wings, diffusers and flat
floors. We have a good suspension set-up and two drivers who made the
most of it. The preparation of the car, the quick pitstops and the right
strategy also played a role and allowed us underdogs to get a good
overall result" analysed Muhlner after the race.